Chapter Thirty #2
I tried to mull things over in my mind, but I couldn’t decipher what Bill was up to.
I was already in a frenzy when I reached the address Natalie had given me, and I circled the streets three times before I found a parking space.
Then I practically jogged inside the building.
She'd told me to come straight to the upper floor.
"Hi." That came from Natalie, who met me when I stepped out of the elevator. She had her coat on and her laptop in hand.
"You're heading out?" I asked, then looked around, noticing the offices were empty. "Where is everyone else?" I'd assumed the place would be buzzing at this hour.
"We have a huge event that's starting in about an hour. Everyone's already there. I just stayed behind to wait for you."
"Oh. Where's Maddox?" I asked.
She pointed at a door at the far end of the main area. "He's in that meeting room. He's had back-to-back calls all day, and sometimes when that happens, he shuts himself in one of the rooms. I didn’t get a chance to tell him you were coming, so he’ll be surprised. Have a fantastic evening."
I blushed as I realized the meaning behind her words.
Oh, Natalie, if you only knew.
When she left, I headed straight to the door she'd pointed at. Maddox's voice was booming inside. I knocked lightly and then opened it just so he would know I was here.
He didn't notice me at first. He was frowning, looking into the distance and talking into headphones. But then he glanced up at me, and his face instantly transformed. He flashed me a huge smile. My heart started beating faster.
I waved at him and mouthed, "I'll wait here."
He shook his head.
"Rob, we'll continue this tomorrow, okay? I'm calling it a day. Right, thank you. Yep. That's exactly what we'll do," he said, then lowered the phone from his ear.
"This is a pleasant surprise.” He grinned, then frowned. “You didn't tell me you were coming and I forgot, did you?”
I shook my head. "No. I asked Natalie for the address."
"That would explain her smart-ass smile." He walked to me. “What's wrong? Something's wrong."
"How could you tell?" I asked.
I stepped inside the office, taking my tote bag off my shoulder and undoing my coat. It was hot in here.
"Babe, you’re scaring me. Tell me what's going on."
I licked my lips, folding my arms over my chest. "So, I was at the council today," I began, "to check on the permit for my business."
"They're giving you headaches with that? I can fix that for you. I'll put our lawyers on it, and you won't have to waste your time with those assholes."
God, his words felt like a warm hug.
"They're not giving me trouble. It's just not ready yet, but she promised she'll call me this week with everything. But Bill asked me to his office."
Maddox narrowed his eyes. "That fucker just won't leave you alone. I'll deal with him."
"He showed me the plans for the hotel expansion," I said, and my words caught in my throat.
Maddox jerked his head back. "What the hell? Why would he even do that in the first place?"
"I think he’s up to something. He showed me the original ones that I refused to even consider all those months ago."
He shook his head. "That's not possible."
"I saw them with my own eyes."
"I know what was submitted," he said.
"I know what I saw," I countered. "And I figured that there has to be an explanation.”
Maddox put his hands in his pockets. "The explanation is that it's just not possible. Maybe that moron tried to trick you somehow."
"That crossed my mind. But as I said, I've seen the original plans, and they were one and the same."
He took his hands out, looking at me intently. "So you think I'm lying to you?" His voice was suddenly cold. I'd never heard him sound like that.
"No, of course not.” Why would he think that? “I believe Bill is up to something. But he did get his hands on those plans somehow, and we need to find out how.”
"I’ll call Gabe and get the team involved."
Maddox called his brother, putting it on speakerphone. He motioned for me to sit down, but I shook my head. I couldn't. I was too unnerved.
"Hey," Gabe replied in a lazy voice.
"You’re on speaker. Cami is here too."
"Hi, Cami. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"We have a situation with the documents we submitted to the Essex city council."
"What kind of situation?"
Maddox looked at me. "Cami, why don't you tell him what happened?"
I tried to do it as succinctly as possible while keeping the emotion out of my voice. But I was scared. What if it was too late to pull back the plans or something?
"That's fucked-up. I can assure you that we submitted the plans that were in the annex. How did they even get the old ones?” Gabe asked.
"Let's check with the person who actually submitted them," Maddox said. Nodding at me, he said in a lower voice, "Our legal team."
"Let me add Paul to the conversation, then," Gabe said.
A few seconds later, a third male voice joined us.
"Paul," Maddox said without further ado, "did you submit the documents for the hotel and distillery personally to the council?"
"What's this about?" Paul asked.
I bit the inside of my cheek, looking at Maddox.
"Yes or no?"
"I prepared all of them myself."
"But did you actually send them yourself?" Maddox asked.
"Of course not."
"Why the fuck not?"
"Because that's not what a partner does, Maddox. That's what we have assistants for."
"Your assistant must have fucked up, which means it's your fuckup," Maddox said, "because the council has the wrong documents. Is your assistant there?"
"Yes. Let me get him."
This was frustrating. I put my arms around myself, clutching my sides tightly.
"All right, I've got him here," Paul said a few moments later.
"Hello, Mr. Whitley," the assistant greeted softly.
"There are two of us Whitleys here, and we're both pissed off."
"Listen," he said, and his voice was shaking.
"I was in charge of actually sending everything to the council.
I sent a batch of documents last week. Two days after that, I realized I'd sent the old plans"—a breath whooshed out of me—"and then I sent the right ones as well.
I even called and talked to this guy named Bill and explained everything to him.
He assured me that he'd gotten everything and understood what was going on. "
I frowned. "Wait, what? You talked to Bill?"
"I'm sorry. Who is that?" he asked.
"She's with me," Maddox said simply. "She's the previous owner of the park."
"Right. Yes, that's what his name is. Bill," the assistant replied.
"When did you talk to him?" I asked.
"Last Thursday."
I narrowed my eyes. Maddox was frowning at me.
"Thank you," Gabe said.
"We'll smooth everything out. You can go," Paul said, presumably to the assistant.
"All right. So it was his fuckup," Paul noted.
"Paul, when will you learn to own up to the mistakes of people on your team? It's ultimately your responsibility," Gabe said.
There was a pause, and then Paul said, "I will fix it. I'll get to the bottom of this."
"The bottom of this is Bill," Maddox said.
"I’ll take care of everything."
"You better fucking do just that, and do it fast," Maddox barked.
After Paul disconnected, Gabe exclaimed, "Well, mystery solved. I’m going to hang up unless you need anything else from me.”
“No, we’re good,” Maddox said, and the call disconnected. Then he focused on me. “Cami, don’t worry about anything. We’ll proceed with the plans you agreed to. We’d never lie to you.”
“I know that. I wasn’t doubting you two.”
He stood right in front of me. I could feel anger radiating off him.
"Really?"
"No! That's why I came here. I was sure Bill was up to something. I was just afraid we couldn’t undo whatever that was."
His nostrils flared. "Good, because I'm not a liar, Cami. I've never been anything but honest with you."
"I know.”
“Sometimes too brutally honest."
"Maddox, I know," I repeated.
"No matter what happens, never doubt how I feel about you. How much I care about you."
"I never even had second thoughts. I promise."
He cupped my face with both hands, touching my lips. "Do you know how much I fucking love you? I was willing to even stop the project for you if that's what you needed. I need to know that you love me the same way. No doubts. No second thoughts. No holding back."
Oh, this man! I understood his fears, though, and I was determined to prove to him that they had no real base.
"I do love you," I confessed. "With all I have, Maddox."
He kissed me ferociously, pinning me against the office door. I kissed him back just as wildly. I needed to let go of all the tension that had built up inside me. His mouth on mine was exquisite.
God, I needed this kiss so much. I needed him.
"I love you," he whispered in my ear. "So damn much. But if you doubt me, this can never work."
My chest constricted.
"I don't doubt you," I promised him.
"Good, because I can take anything. I can fight anything with you—for you. But I need us to be united. A common front. No secrets between us. No doubts.”
"No secrets. No doubts," I agreed.
A common front. I smiled.